US Wins 7 Medals In 90 Minutes
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Led by gold medals from Allyson Felix, Aries Merritt and Brittney Reese, Team USA earned a staggering seven medals in a 90-minute span at Olympic Stadium Wednesday night (Aug. 8), winning three of four possible golds and seven of 12 possible medals overall.
After the first day of the decathlon, Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee stand in first and second place with 4,661 and 4,441 points. In the first event of the day, Eaton set an Olympic record in the 100-meter in 10.35 seconds to earn 1,011 points. Hardee was not far behind as he ran the second-fastest time of the day in a season-best of 10.42 sec- onds for 994 points. In the long jump, Eaton leapt 8.03 meters – the best jump of the day – while Hardee posted a mark of 7.53. Hardee only held second place by a margin of six points through two events, but after a solid throw of 15.28 meters in the shot put, he extended his margin by 79 points. Eaton recorded a best mark of 14.66 meters to distance his lead.
In the evening decathlon events, Eaton cleared 2.05 meters in the high jump for 850 points, the second-best clearance in the competition, and ran 46.90 seconds in the 400 for first
place and 963 points. Hardee high jumped 1.99 meters (794 points) and ran 48.11 seconds (904 points) in the 400.
For the first time since 1932, the U.S. will have three men running in the final of the 5,000 after all three American men advanced through the qualifying round with ease. Lopez Lomong placed fourth in his heat with a time of 13:26.16 to advance, while Bernard Lagat and Galen Rupp recorded times of 13:15.45 and 13:17.56 to advance automatically.
American record holder Brad Walker cleared 5.60 meters in the men’s pole vault and will be the lone U.S. representative in the final. Jeremy Scott (5.50 meters) narrowly missed making the final, while Derek Miles did not clear a height after taking three attempts at the bar at 5.20 meters.
The American women did not advance to the final of the hammer throw. In the first flight, Amber Campbell sent the hammer sailing 69.93 meters and American record-holder Jessica Cosby threw a best mark of 69.65 meters. Also, first-time Olympian Amanda Bingson threw 67.29 meters on her final attempt.
Rounding out morning qualifications, Alysia Montano turned in the fastest time of the day in the 800 in 2:00.47. Alice Schmidt (2:01.65) and Geena Gall (2:03.23) will join Montano in the semifinals.
For the first time since 2000, Team USA will have two women in the final of the 1,500, as Morgan Uceny and Shannon Rowbury automatically advanced to the final. Both running in the first heat, Uceny was third in 4:05.34, with Rowbury fifth in 4:05.47. Defending world champion Jenny Simpson was 12th in the second heat, crossing the line in 4:06.89, but did not advance.
Wallace Spearmon will be the lone American in the men’s 200 final after running 20.02 to place second in the first semifinal. Maurice Mitchell (20.56) and Isiah Young (20.89) did not advance to the final after placing fourth and eighth in their respective heats.
Finally, in the men’s javelin qualifying round, Craig Kinsley posted the best mark of the day among Americans with his toss of 78.18 meters for 23rd overall. Cyrus Hostetler threw 75.76 for 32nd and Sean Furey threw 72.81 for 37th. The trio of Americans did not advance to the final.
